Reese Traves's Blog

Book themed parties are great for so many occasions and they work for both kids and adults. It’s a great theme for birthday parties, book launch celebrations, writing organization anniversaries, English degree graduation parties and so much more!

A couple of weekends ago we celebrated one of the oldest writing organizations in the US with a book themed 1920’s Gatsby speakeasy party. The writing organization, THPW, was organized in April 1920 by two women and their first official meeting was in a hotel lobby. It only seemed fitting to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary (plus 2) in a 1920’s hotel and what better place in the hotel than their secret speakeasy with its very own hidden bookcase door.

The hotel, with its book-filled lobby, has its own literary ties which fit even more perfectly with the theme. It was built in 1927 by a woman who was instrumental in organizing the first public library in town.

Below are some ideas for how to throw a literary themedparty meets 1920’s Gatsby:FIND A BOOK APPROVED VENUE:

I chose the speakeasy since in the 1920’s many literary types frequented them. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eugene O’Neill, John Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda were all said to be regular patrons of a speakeasy named Chumley’s in the West Village in NYC.

Books really fit anywhere though so the option for a venue is limitless. A library or book store would be cool, or you could easily turn your house into a book-filled wonderland, if it isn’t already!

LITERARY THEMED DECORATIONS:

Well the most important bookish decorations are books & lots of them!  Other bookish party décor ideas that can up the vintage library literary feel are candelabras, an author’s bust, a globe, and a typewriter. You can pick up a candelabra and some real or battery-operated candles online along with a writer’s bust (I found one of Mark Twain on Etsy).

BOOK THEMED FOOD:

A book cake is a fun way to have book themed food at your party! You can also go all out and have the food book-themed as well by including popular recipes from books

If you’re going for a 1920’s speakeasy you can include some 1920’s cocktails including an old fashioned, sidecar and bee’s knees.

Local second hand stores are a great place to search for atypewriter since they are very heavy to ship Plus, if you want a few morebooks to fill in your décor you can often find a good deal on some greatlooking hardcover books too.

BOOK PARTY ACTIVITIES:

For a 1920’s themed literary party you can have a list ofwords and phrases from the 1920’s and have guests raise their hands to guesswhat  their meaning was back then. At theend you can give the winner a book, library books scented candle or some otherwriter-centric prize.

Another fun literary game is Authors. It’s a card came that’s been around since 1861 and can be played by all ages. There are several versions, the original Authors, American Authors, and Children’s Authors.

I hope your 1920’s literary themed party is the cat’s pajamas!

We finally did it! I’ve wanted built-in bookshelves for FOREVER. I mean, really. Like 10 years or more. I came up with the idea a long time ago. Then over the years, I would occasionally say it again to my husband.

Then I came up with one of the coolest parts of our built-in bookshelves and that’s what sealed the deal and got my husband on board right-away!

We wanted to have a door from one room to the other next to the built-in bookshelves, but we weren’t sure how we wanted it to look and then one day I said, “Maybe we should make it a hidden door…”

My husband thought that was a great idea! So much so, that he then convinced me we should get started on these bookshelves the next week! That’s right, after 10 years of saying…”Don’t you think it would look good to have built-in bookshelves here?” All it took was a hidden bookcase door, our very own Scooby-Doo door to get him on board and fast!

This was our first “real” carpentry project, so we decided to start with a BIG one! We’ve always done a bunch of DIY house projects, but we’ve never built even a small table or anything. But, with YouTube and the internet we decided to build our built-in bookshelves and our hidden bookcase door, kind of on a whim! So, if we can do it, so can you!

The bookshelves are also a room divider so we decided on 6 bookshelves—3 on one side and 3 on the opposite side and 1 hidden bookcase door. All with 6 shelves each.

We decided to build the whole thing out of plywood—after consulting the internet, of course!

It’s kind of hilarious that we ordered all of our plywood and trim pieces before deciding how we planned to rip the plywood. And also, cross-cut it—before this project, I didn’t even know there were different names for the direction you cut wood!

STEPS:

The order with our plywood and trim arrives.

Ripping plywood and cross-cutting plywood with a circular saw.

We originally thought we might rip the plywood on a table saw, but that quickly seemed like a bad idea. Instead we ripped all the plywood using a circular saw and this handy Kreg Rip Cut jig I found online.

Then we put all 7 bookcases together.

Using this handy pocket hole jig that requires special pocket hole screws – maybe that’s common knowledge to some people!

And, built a base for them to sit on.

The hidden bookcase door.

We decided to put our bookcase door on casters. First, so that if we put too many books in it, it’s not just hanging there on the wall and also so we can still open it if we add too many books!

We had planned to use a pivot hinge that seemed like a great idea at first, but after looking into it more, we decided, plain-old commercial door hinges would be better.

We actually also took on another big DIY project (not nearly as big as the bookshelves!) at the exact same time and worked on part of it simultaneously. I’ll be posting it at a later time. It’s done, but we may make a couple of additions to it and we’re literally too tired and too behind on other things to do it now!

WHATYOU NEED TO BUILD BOOKSHELVES:-Plywood-2×4’s-Circular saw–Kreg Rip Cut Jig (this will save you gobs of time from measuring…this video shows how it works)–Kreg Pocket Hole Jig (btw, I’m not being paid to recommend Kreg jigs although with 2 it seems that way)-Kreg pocket hole screws-Pocket hole plugs-Your own DIY jig (to cut all the shelf boards quicker!)-Clamps-Square-Pencil-Drill-Brad Nailer-Brad nails-Puddy-Caulk-Paint

This is our DIY jig for cutting all the boardsfor the shelves.

Who doesn’t want built-in bookshelves?! They add character to a room and they are great for holding books Ours in semi-permanent (they could technically be removed since the wall and floor underneath are in their original state…with a bunch of holes now). Without the hidden door they could probably be temporary and even work for a rental— they are so heavy having shelves on both sides, that are all connected, they would probably stay put on their own (for the most part).

If you’re inspired to do your own DIY bookshelves and/or hidden bookcase door, tag me @reesetraves, I’d love to see them!

It’s been a crazy year in 2020. COVID has made this year unlike any other. It’s also the year my first picture book, Wander New York: Fitz in the City, came out–which has definitely made the experience different than I expected & planned for pre-COVID. It’s about traveling to New York City. Traveling isn’t the best idea right now, but traveling there by book is conveniently the safest option currently!

I was lucky enough to be contacted for an article in Publishers Weekly about my publishing journey. You can check it out here.

So, I’ve always loved picture book character costumes because what’s not to love? As a huge fan of picture books they just feel like such fun Halloween costumes!

I’m also a huge fan of super easy, last minute Halloween
costumes—mostly because I’m a huge procrastinator and always think I can move
‘DIY Halloween costume’ to a later date on my to-do list. That is until it’s a
week or less before Halloween and I still need a costume!

So, if you’re in need of a super-quick no sew Halloween costume that you can make the night before, or an easy Book Week costume, try Fitz the Fox!

This year my debut picture book illustrated by Jon Traves (aka my husband), Wander New York: Fitz in the City, came out—so, obviously I can’t think of any other children’s book character costume I would rather do than one for Fitz, because of course, I’m biased!

This costume is super easy to make at the last minute too
& it doesn’t require any sewing!

All you need to dress up like Fitz the Fox for Halloween is:

– A red and white striped shirt (because Fitz loves stripes!)– Green shorts, or green pants, or just pants of any type– This free DIY no-sew fox ears template, some orange and cream fabric or paper & a head band– This free printable paper camera – just like Fitz carries in Wander New York!– A string for your camera (I used some embroidery floss for mine)– Glue or tape in a pinch

That’s it and you’ve got your super easy
book character costume!

BTW, this costume also works great as a World Book Day costume for kids and teachers! And the paper craft camera & no-sew fox ears make it fun for any time kids read about Fitz and his travels!

Happy Costume Making!

—Reese

Today is my first ever book birthday! It’s been a long time coming. I’m so happy to finally be able to say that my debut picture book, WANDER NEW YORK: Fitz in the City, is officially available to order.

Little foxes are already giving it 5 stars!

“So many books, so little time.” ― Frank Zappa

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” –Stephen King

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket

“If I waited for perfection…I would never write a word.” -Margaret Atwood

Everything is easier with coffee